Honesty Hour
by theypreferthetermpeople
Summary: Stef and Lena finally have a real conversation, after way too many secrets. Spoilers for 01x14.


_This was written to fulfill two Tumblr prompts, one from an anon reading, "How about lena telling stef about the pregnancy and her reaction," and one from purepaulson reading, "Stef and lena find a good use for their shitty bed!" (I know the second prompt was asking for smut, but I wasn't feelin' it today, and I decided to get creative in what a "good use" for the bed might be - like, for example, heartfelt and honest conversation. Sound surprising? It should, given how little of it we've seen in canon recently! Anyway, I don't own The Fosters and all that jazz. Also I couldn't resist my usual parenting!adamsfoster there in the beginning. Enjoy._

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"I'm home!" Stef called, sliding the glass back door closed and tossing her keys onto the table. She glanced around the kitchen, surprisingly devoid of family members. With four teenagers, a wife, and a hanger-on ex-husband, the house was rarely empty. "Hello?" A moment later, Jesús appeared on the stairs.  
"Hi, Mom," he greeted, sliding in his stockinged feet.  
"Hey, baby," she said, crossing the kitchen to kiss his cheek, a gesture which he clearly did not appreciate and promptly wiped off. "Where is everyone?" Her son shrugged.  
"I'm the only single one. Did you expect to find them home on a Friday night?"  
Stef raised one eyebrow quizzically. "The only single one? Last I heard, you were all single. What happened?"  
"Well, Mariana's out with that Chase guy," Jesús replied, rolling his eyes, "and-" His mother cut him off.  
"Excuse me? She's with whom?"  
"Chase. You know, from the play. They went to the movies or something."  
Stef's eyebrows shot up. "Okay, but Brandon's not seeing anyone," she insisted.  
"He's at Callie's," Jesús reported with a smirk. "I mean, he says he's at Aiden's, but he's obviously sticking it to..." He trailed off, suddenly aware of the inappropriate language he'd been using. Stef clenched her teeth and sighed, trying to control her temper.  
"I'm not even going into that." She pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger. "Alright, where's Jude? He's too young to date!" She looked a little desperate.  
"He's at that boy's house, Connor." Jesús shrugged. "I guess it's not a date-date, but you know." Stef swatted him on the arm.  
"Don't assume all these things, Jesús. You know, assume makes an a-s-s of you and me. Where's Mama?"  
"I'm right here!" Lena's voice rang out from the front door, which banged shut a moment after she'd spoken. "Sorry I'm late, I went grocery shopping."  
"Hi babe." Stef greeted her wife with a kiss, and Jesús grimaced.  
"Jesús, don't you have homework?" Lena asked, her voice slightly wobbly.  
"It's Friday!" he protested, throwing his arms out exasperatedly.  
"Alright, fair enough," Lena allowed. "Can you go play video games in the den, then? Mom and I need to talk." Jesús looked delighted at being told to play video games, and quickly made himself scarce. Stef looked at Lena with concern.  
"Everything okay, love?" she asked inquisitively, putting a hand on her shoulder.  
"Can we go upstairs?" Lena asked, pushing past her to set the grocery bags down in the kitchen.  
"Lena, you're scaring me," Stef said, blocking the staircase. "Just tell me if everything's okay." Lena didn't answer, just ran a hand through her hair, which was frizzing after a long day. "Lena, what the hell is going on?" Lena flinched at her wife's language.  
"Please don't swear at me." Her voice was small, fragile, and Stef instantly recognized it, moving aside to let her pass up the stairs, and softening her face.  
"I'm sorry, love."

Lena didn't respond, just walked quietly upstairs and into their room, where she grabbed her pajamas and went into the bathroom to change, closing the door behind her. Stef took the steps two at a time following her, and arrived in the bedroom doorway just in time to see the bathroom door close. She shook her head, sighing. Lena always isolated when she was feeling vulnerable, and clearly tonight was no different. Stef reached up and undid her pinned-up French braid, combing the blonde hair out with her fingers and swishing it across her shoulders. She pulled off her gun belt, locked her weapon away, and slowly changed out of her uniform and into her pajamas. Once dressed, she sat on her side of the bed, legs crossed and staring at the bathroom door, waiting for her wife to come out.  
Finally, after a long moment, she realized she could hear faint sobs coming from the other side of the door, and she gave up on patience, crossing the bedroom in a single bound and knocking lightly on the bathroom door.  
"Love? Can I come in?"  
A tearful yes answered her, and she opened the door slowly to see Lena sitting on the edge of the bathtub, head in her hands, tears running down her face.  
"Oh, baby," Stef said soothingly, sitting down beside her wife and taking her into her arms. She stroked her hair slowly, planting gentle kisses on the top of her head. "Whatever it is, if it's upsetting you this much, it isn't worth it," she murmured. "Come to bed, darling."  
The two women slowly stood up and Stef led Lena out of the bathroom and into their new bed. Stef pulled the covers back and tucked her partner in tenderly, kissing her cheek, before crossing the room and getting into the bed on her own side.  
"I want to tell you," Lena whispered, rolling onto her right side only to see her wife's top half rise up on the mechanized bed.  
"What's that, love?" Stef asked, looking over the rims of her glasses. Lena swallowed hard.  
"I need to talk to you," she said, a bit louder, and reached for her own remote, raising herself to Stef's level.  
"Okay," Stef said carefully, closing her book and placing it on the table next to the bed. She didn't want to push. She removed her glasses and set them atop her book, and then turned back to Lena, giving her full attention to the other woman.  
"I was at the gyno the other day," Lena began, "and I asked her something. I asked her if I'm too old to get pregnant." Seeing Stef's surprise, Lena held up a hand to keep her wife's questions at bay. "She called yesterday, and said my tests came back clear. I could get pregnant now, but she said things change rapidly at my age, and my fertility might not last. I really want to get pregnant, Stef. I know it sounds crazy, but I do. I always have." Tears were beginning to form in Lena's eyes again, and Stef reached across the surprisingly enormous gap between them and put a hand on her wife's shoulder.  
"Have you really, Lena? Don't you think four kids is enough?" Stef tried to ask kindly, but she couldn't disguise her shock. After ten years together, how could there still be things she did not know about Lena? She'd thought the marriage bomb was the last, and the biggest, but this announcement was topping that one easily. "Do you really miss the months without sleep and the 2am feeding and the diapers?"  
"I never had that stuff, Stef," Lena said, smiling sadly. "Brandon was five when I met you, and the twins were five when we first fostered them. I've never had a kid younger than that." Stef's eyes widened as she calculated in her head and remembered. "And yes, I think our four beautiful children are enough; of course I do. And it's not like I think having biological kids will make me more of a mom or anything. I know I'm a mom now. But the experiences of pregnancy and childbirth... There're ones I've imagined for years, and I'd like to have them before it's too late."  
"I haven't had a baby for fifteen years," Stef reminisced. "I guess it would be nice to have another. And how can I deny a face like that?" She smirked, leaning over to kiss her wife.  
"Do you mean it, Stef?" Lena asked hopefully, pulling her head away. "You know you don't have to say yes. A baby will be a huge strain and another mouth to feed and eighteen more years of childrearing."  
"And you'll love every minute of it," Stef replied with a knowing smile. "Really, love, I can't imagine saying no to something that I can tell will make you so happy." She kissed Lena again. "Let's make a baby," she whispered into her wife's lips, and Lena laughed.  
"I don't think we can do it the same way you and Mike did," she whispered back, reaching up to hold Stef's cheek in her palm.  
"Please don't remind me I ever had sex with Mike," Stef murmured, her voice dropping half an octave in an attempt to remain alluring while expressing disgust. "It ruins the mood. And anyway, we can try," she added, slowly pushing Lena's pajama pants off her hip.  
"I guess we can," Lena mumbled, rolling closer.


End file.
